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Once, in the North Woods, Jack had glimpsed a lynx pouncing on an unwary rodent. The cat had eaten the little creature in one snapping bite. It was odd he remembered that moment now. Or perhaps it wasn’t.
“Harriet is a good friend of mine,” said the duchess. “I won’t have her trifled with.”
“I would never…” Jack’s sense of grievance came back. “It was just the opposite.”
“The…?” She stared at him. “Do you say Harriet trifled withyou?”
“She was pleased to be a friend when she thought I was a rootless wanderer. As soon as she discovered I was an earl, she froze me out.” He sounded resentful. Well, he was. The fact that the tangle was his own fault merely made things worse.
“Why do I think there is more to it than that?”
The duchess’s beauty was a snare and a deception, Jack decided. It kept a man from noticing the steel underneath until it was too late.
“Ah.” Her elegant eyebrows came up.
Jack didn’t like the sound of that syllable.
“Did Harriet ‘discover’ your real identity when I told her? I thought she looked oddly shocked.”
“You might have kept it to yourself,” Jack muttered. And immediately wished he hadn’t.
“Youmight have been honest with Harriet from the beginning.”
“Why would I be?” Jack exclaimed. “I’d had my fill and more of society ladies and their opinions. My great-grandmother told me I was a barbarian. I wasn’t going to hear any more ofthat.”
The duchess sighed. “One could wish Lady Wilton was less…intemperate.”
A harsh laugh escaped Jack. He would have used a ruder word.
“But Harriet is not Lady Wilton, of course. And you must have realized that quite soon.”
He had to admit it. “Yes.”
“And so?”
“I didn’t want to spoil a pleasant…friendship.” He made a slashing gesture. “And I know saying nothing spoiled it just the same.”
“More so,” replied the duchess.
“Yes, all right!” His desperation came back. “I meant to tell her the truth. Itried, more than once. We kept being interrupted. I should have done more. I need her to understand.”
“Why is that important?” she asked.
“What?”
“Why do you care so much what Harriet may think?”
“I…” Jack was not quite ready to tell her everything. There could be no mention of kisses, for example. Who knew what this rather ruthless lady might do with the knowledge? “I wish to regain her good opinion,” he replied, knowing it sounded stiff and rather priggish. It was the best he could manage in this moment.
“To what end?” asked his interrogator.
“To…restore our friendship and, er, perhaps more. I hope.”
She examined him. Jack tried not to feel like an insect under a magnifying glass. It occurred to him that the Duchess of Tereford might be as terrifying as Lady Wilton in a few decades. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to share the old lady’s biases. “Harriet’s grandfather obviously intends…” She stopped abruptly and went silent.
Jack waited a moment to see if she would continue, then said, “What?”
The duchess frowned. Thoughts were clearly passing through her mind. Jack had no idea what they were.
